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Increasing the sustainability of the East African coffee supply chain

TRIESTE, Italy, 7 June 2012 - A conference focusing on technologies and best practices for the optimal utilization of by-products in the East African coffee value chain will take place from 11-14 June.

The conference is being organized by the International Centre for Science and High Technology (ICS) of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, in cooperation with the Ernesto Illy Foundation and illycaffè, together with the UNIDO’s Clusters and Business Linkages, and the Rural Entrepreneurship and Human Security units.

More than 40 participants are expected to attend, including the main representatives of the Coffee Boards of Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda, delegates of the World Bank and the International Coffee Board, as well as experts from UNIDO and from Brazil and Colombia.

The main themes to be addressed are how to increase sustainability in the coffee supply chain, and how to improve supplier/buyer linkages.

Cooperation between ICS-UNIDO, the Ernesto Illy Foundation and illycaffè started in 2011, with a joint fellowship programme, which resulted in the participation of young coffee quality experts from Tanzania and Ethiopia in a master’s degree in coffee economics and science.

Following a meeting with Andrea Illy, the chairman and CEO of illycaffè in August 2012, the UNIDO Director-General, Kandeh K. Yumkella, initiated collaboration between UNIDO and the company in order to explore opportunities for integrating the supply and value chains, and for maximizing export consortia approaches.